Last week’s column on the rally of thousands of community
college students converging on the state Capitol in Sacramento to
protest educational budget cuts definitely touched a chord with
many readers.
Last week’s column on the rally of thousands of community college students converging on the state Capitol in Sacramento to protest educational budget cuts definitely touched a chord with many readers. Leah Halper of Gavilan wrote: “Kat, thank you for the great piece about Gavilan and budget cuts. Our PIO sent it out to everyone at Gavilan.” Another reader wrote: “My name is Veronica Martinez and I went to the rally in Sacramento on Monday. I wanted to thank you for writing such a beautiful piece, one that really sends the message. I work in the EOPS/CalWORKs department and know the effects such proposed reductions will have on disadvantaged students. Thanks for shedding more light on this important, serious cause.” I want to thank all my readers for their great feedback.
I have had two things happen in Gilroy lately that are very unusual in my experience. Most of the time I believe that Gilroy police are doing an excellent job, and I am very grateful for the sense of security they give me. I know that if I need help, they will be at my door in five minutes or less, ready to deal courageously with any emergency. I tested out their response time one night when I heard really loud mysterious scraping sounds coming from my backyard, sounding like someone breaking through the fence. It turned out that it was my neighbor’s dog playing with flattened soda bottles (at 3 a.m.).
I don’t mean to sound any unnecessary alarms, but lately there are things I wonder about. A black acquaintance of mine was taxied home recently by the Gilroy police, and while it’s true that he was somewhat inebriated, I had to wonder if they would have insisted on bringing home a white man in the same condition. They explained that it was for his own safety, and they apparently treated him well, but with some of the recent stories in the media regarding police mistreatment of minorities, I felt uneasy at learning my acquaintance had been transported home by police. Then, a short time later, I was sitting in my car with a friend, talking and enjoying an evening view of Gilroy’s lights. We were quietly chatting, and we were in a designated and legal parking space. Suddenly, a police SUV pulled up behind us and flooded our car with blinding light. I was about to start the engine and just leave, but the police vehicle effectively blocked my way.
The officer who came to my window wanted ID and said he needed to run background checks on both myself and my passenger. After we waited for what seemed like hours but was probably really only 15 minutes, the officer (who was very polite) returned with our ID and said everything checked out. We were free to go. As I backed out I saw two other police squad cars had arrived. Now I don’t know why we required a background check, but after having no real contact in the past with Gilroy police, it was very startling for me and my friend to have these two interactions in such a short time. It was really terrifying to sit there trapped in one spot, blinded by police lights, when you know you are law abiding and have done nothing questionable. Is it because my friend is black and I am white? Is it because of the heightened terror alerts we are under?
Am I being paranoid in worrying about what harm may be done to our civil liberties in this climate of war?
